SPEECH 


O  F 


SECRETA  ft Y  OF  THE  TREASURY, 


DELIVERED  AT 


CINCINNATI,  OHIO, 


Monday,  August  80th,  1880. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  O. 

1880. 


s  # 

^  r'  n  I 
j  r >  r)  w 


SPEECH 


OF 


Hon.  JOHN  SHERMAN. 


Fellow-  Citizens: 

The  Democratic  party  desires  to  make  a  change  in  the  Executive  branch 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  appeals  to  the  American  people 
to  bring  about  such  a  change  this  fall.  The  Republican  party,  recognizing  the 
right  of  that  party  to  make  the  appeal,  will  hear  patiently  and  kindly  all  it 
has  to  say,  and  no  word  of  insult,  no  act  of  violence  will  be  offered  by  any 
Republican  in  any  part  of  the  United  States  to  deter  the  Democrats  from  the 
exercise  of  their  right  freely  to  discuss  in  their  own  way  their  political  con¬ 
victions  and  opinions.  We  Republicans  only  regret  that  this  privilege  cannot 
be  exercised  by  us  also. 

The  last  great  change  in  the  Executive  branch  of  the  General  Government 
occurred  in  1860,  by  the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  President  of  the  Uni¬ 
ted  States.  At  that  time  the  open  advocacy  of  his  election  could  not  be  made 
safely  to  life  or  limb  in  thir4-een  States  of  the  Union,  where  the  strength  of 
the  Democratic  party  lay.  But,  in  spite  of  this,  the  people  of  the  Northern 
States,  firmly  impressed  with  the  necessity  for  the  change,  made  it ;  and  what 
mhn  in  this  broad  land  does  not  now  feel  that  it  was  a  happy  change?  And  yet 
the  Democratic  party  of  that  time  resisted  it.  It  not  only  resisted  it  during  the 
canvass,  but  the  controlling  segment  of  that  party  rebelled  against  it  by  force 
of  arms,  and  undertook  to  disrupt  the  Government  and  to  destroy  the  Union. 

The  Democratic  party  desired  a  change  in  1864,  when,  in  the  midst  of  war, 
the  magnitude  of  which  even  nowin  the  distance  staggers  us  with  amazement, 
it  met  in  National  Convention  and  resolved  that  the  war  was  a  failure  and 
demanded  peace  on  any  terms.  That  was  when  Grant  was  in  the  Wilderness 
and  Sherman  was  on  the  road  to  Atlanta,  when  our  notes  on  demand  were 
worth  only  forty  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  when  it  seemed  almost  as  if  Provi¬ 
dence  had  deserted  us.  If  its  desire  for  a  change  had  then  been  gratified,  we 
would  have  now  no  united  country  to  boast  of,  no  land  to  love.  The  American 
people,  though  weeping  over  their  lost  ones  and  feeling  heavily  the  burdens  of 
war,  said  there  should  be  no  change,  and  there  was  none ;  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  elected  again. 

The  Democratic  party  desired  a  change  in  1868.  It  was  encouraged  by  the 
defection  of  Andrew  Johnson,  and  by  many  divisions  in  the  Republican  party. 
The  rebels  had  been  restored  to  their  lost  citizenship,  and  had  already  organ¬ 
ized  a  system  of  terror  in  several  of  the  Southern  States.  Tweed  was  in  the 
ascendency  in  New  York  with  his  gigantic  frauds;  he  plundered  the  city,  filled 
the  cravings  of  the  army  of  his  dependents  with  the  plunder  of  rich  contracts, 
issued  tens  of  thousands  of  fraudulent  naturalization  papers,  stuffed  the  bal¬ 
lot-boxes,  and  thus  reversed  the  vote  of  the  Empire  State.  Yet,  after  all,  the 
American  people  decided  that  there  should  be  no  change ;  that  the  Republican 
party, whick  saved  the  country,  should  still  be  trusted  with  its  administration ; 
and  Grant,  the  great  soldier  of  the  war,  was  made  President. 

So,  again,  the  Democratic  party  desired  a  change  in  1876.  It  had  previously 
organized  the  Solid  South,  according  to  the  Mississippi  plan,  with  terror  and 
violence.  It  fondly  thought  it  had  made  good  a  fulcrum  of  138  electors  from 
States  lately  in  rebellion,  and  had  carefully  laid  plans  to  secure  enough  more 
to  make  the  election  sure.  Tilden,  who,  as  governor  of  New  York,  had  be¬ 
come  popular  with  the  business  men  of  that  State  by  his  aid  in  the  overthrow 
of  Tweed,  and  by  his  opposition  to  corrupt  canal  rings,  was  nominated  for 
President.  He  had  a  barrel  full  of  money  which  was  spent  without  stint,  and 
thus  introduced  for  the  first  time  in  American  politics  the  most  shameless  cor¬ 
ruption  in  a  Presidential  election.  But,  more  than  all,  the  country  was  suffer¬ 
ing  under  great  financial  distress.  The  wave  of  misfortune,  which  came  in 
1873  to  the  whole  commercial  world,  had  scattered  its  wrecks  over  our  great 


4 


cities.  Every  man  who  had  capital  to  lose,  or  debts  to  pay,  or  wanted  labor  or 
bread,  felt  discontent  for  evils  that  he  could  not  explain."  It  was  natural,  but 
not  just,  that  many  of  these  clamored  for  a  change,  who  had  no  sympathy  with 
the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party ;  but  still  the  fraud  and  intimidation 
attempted  in  three  of  the  States  failed  in  its  object,  and  the  Republican  party 
in  the  Northern  States  stood  by  its  principles  and  Hayes  was  elected. 

And  now.,  fellow-citizens,  let  us  pause  for  a  while  to  see  what  has  been  the 
result  during  the  last  four  years  by  the  election  of  the  present  Republican 
President,  fjas  he  given  any  cause  for  a  change  from  Republican  to  Demo¬ 
cratic  measures  and  men  ? 

RESUMPTION. 

When  President  Hayes  was  inaugurated  the  resumption  act  of  1875  was  an 
unexecuted  mandate  of  the  Republican  party.  It  had  been  voted  for  only  by 
Republicans,  and  had  from  its  introduction  been  assailed,  resisted,  and  ridi¬ 
culed  by  the  Democratic  party.  Many  honest,  sincere  men  of  both  parties, 
who  really  wished  resumption,  believed  it  impracticable  for  years  to  come. 
But  there  was  the  law.  I  had  aided  in  its  passage,  and  I  believed  in  it,  and  I 
was  charged  with  its  execution.  .1  was  supported  by  the  full  faith  of  the  Presi¬ 
dent.  Gold  was  at  a  premium  of  nearly  six  per  cent.  The  national  revenues 
had  been  greatly  impaired  as  the  result  of  the  panic,  so  that  there  was,  in  fact, 
no  surplus  revenue  to  aid  in  the  work  of  resumption.  The  only  means  left 
was  to  increase  the  volume  of  coin  before  the  day  of  resumption  by  the  sale 
of  bonds,  to  do  the  utmost  to  strengthen  the  public  credit,  and  to  produce  con¬ 
fidence  in  the  ability  to  resume.  This  was  done  in  the  eighteen  months  that 
followed  the  inauguration  of  President  Hayes,  and  at  the  end  of  that  period 
the  credit  of  the  country  had  been  greatly  advanced;  surplus  coin  had  been 
accumulated  to  the  amount  of  $130,000,000,  and  the  public  mind,  relieved  from 
imaginary  terrors,  had  become  not  only  reconciled  to  resumption,  but  was 
anxiously  and  hopefully  awaiting  the  event.  During  all  this  time  the  Demo¬ 
cratic  party  excelled  itself  in  active  resistance  to  the  successful  execution  of 
this  law.  Thev  sought  to  repeal  it;  they  sought  by  investigations  through 
committees  of  Congress  to  discredit  all  the  proceedings  had  under  it;  and  it 
was  boastfully  said  that  thousands  of  dollars  would  be  given  to  stand  on  the 
right  of  the  line  at  the  Public  Treasury  on  the  day  of  resumption.  The  exam¬ 
inations  made  of  myself  alone  by  committees  of  Congress  upon  this  subject 
amounted  to  over  one  hundred  printed  pages ;  and  the  speeches  that  were 
made  against  what  they  denounced  as  a  crazy,  impracticable  scheme  would  fill 
volumes.  Your  ears  rang  with  their  ridicule  and  denunciation  of  the  resump¬ 
tion  act ;  but  still,  thanks  to  the  Republican  party,  resumption  came,  and  came 
so  certainly  and  so  securely  that  at  this  day  specie  payments  are  more  complete, 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  term,  than  ever  before  in  this  country,  and  as  complete 
as  in  any  country  in  the  world.  There  is  no  longer  any  depreciation  of  the  notes 
of  the  United  States,  and  not  only  in  this  country  but  in  all  foreign  countries 
they  are  received  at  par  with  gold. 

The  Democratic  party,  convicted  of  false  prophecy,  could  only  shout  out 
that  it  was  Providence  that  did  it;  that  the  good  crops,  which  came  six  months 
after  resumption  was  a  complete  success,  did  it;  and  some  of  them  had  the 
audacity  to  say  that  the  way  to  resumption  was  prepared  by  the  economies 
enforced  by  a  Democratic  House  of  Representatives,  which,  as  I  will  show  you 
hereafter,  instead  of  reducing  the  expenses,  actually  increased  them  largely  in 
all  branches  of  the  public  service  subject  to  annual  appropriations.  One  thing 
is  certain,  that  if  its  desire  for  a  change  had  been  gratified  four  years  ago  by 
the  American  people,  the  resumption  act  would  not  have  been  enforced,  re¬ 
sumption  would  not  have  come,  and  the  hopeful  joy  which  gladdens  the  homes 
of  millions  of  laboring  people  would  still  be  repressed  by  the  evils  of  irre¬ 
deemable  paper  money.  Resumption,  then,  with  all  the  good  that  has  accom¬ 
panied  and  followed  it,  is  the  direct  result  of  the  wisdom  of  your  choice  in  the 
election  of  a  Republican  President  four  years  ago. 

REFUNDING. 

When  President  Hayes  was  inaugurated,  there  was  upon  the  statute-book 
the  refunding  act  of  1870.  It  was  placed  there  by  the  Republican  party — a 
)art  of  its  policy  for  the  gradual  reduction  of  the  burden  of  the  public  cfebt. 

' ’t  had  been  partially  executed  by  the  sale  of  five  per  cent,  bonds ;  and  when 
President  Hayes  was  inaugurated  we  were  selling  four-and-one-half  per  cent, 
bonds  at  par,  slowly  and  with  difficulty.  It  then  became  my  duty  to  continue 
the  refunding;  and,  taking  a  hopeful  view  of  the  future  of  the  country — its 


5 


power,  its  wealth  and  greatness — I  determined  to  withdraw  from  the  market 
the  four- and- one-half  per  cent,  bonds,  and  sell  the  four  per  cents,  at  par.  1  his 
was  believed  at  the  time  to  be  a  doubtful  experiment;  but,  being  firmly  sup¬ 
ported  by  President  Hayes,  the  Treasury  Department  undertook  the  task.  A 
sale  of  every  such  bond  was  a  saving  of  one-third  of  the  interest  on  that  por¬ 
tion  of  the  debt;  for  every  dollar  realized  was  applied  to  the  payment  of  an 
eciual  amount  of  bonds  bearing  six  per  cent,  interest.  Bankers  shrunk  from 
taking  such  a  bond;  but  on  an  appeal  to  the  American  people,  through  popular 
subscription,  within  sixty  days  after  they  were  thus  oiiered,  $<  5,000,000  of  these 
bonds  were  taken  and  were  absorbed,  mostly  in  small  sums,  all  over  the  Lniied 
States.  Thus,  the  success  of  the  loan  was  established. 

Frequently,  however,  as  the  opposition  of  the  Democratic  party  to  resump¬ 
tion  was  developed,  and  at  times  appeared  to  be  successful,  credit  would  be¬ 
come  impaired,  confidence  would  lie  destroyed,  and  the  sale  of  these  bonds 
would  fall  off.  But  as  events  resulted,  and  the  Democrats  failed  to  secure  the 
repeal  of  the  resumption  act,  the  bonds  sold  again,  but  in  comparatively  less 
sums.  The  credit  of  the  Government  advanced  precisely  as  resumption  ap¬ 
proached  success;  and  within  one  hundred  days  after  resumption  there  were 
sold  $510,347,800  of  four  per  cent,  bonds,  thus  completing  the  work  of  refund¬ 
ing,  as  far  as  the  law  allowed  it  to  be  done,  by  the  redemption  of  all  the  bonds 
bearing  fiv.e  or  six  per  cent,  interest,  that  were  then  redeemable.  The  result 
of  this  Republican  policy  was  a  saving  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  of 
$14,290,453.50  interest  per  year. 

But  this  was  hot  the  only  benefit  derived  by  our  people  from  refunding 
operations.  The  rate  of  interest  became  permanently  reduced  on  all  invest¬ 
ments  throughout  the  country.  Low  interest  is  the  chief  factor  in  our  pros¬ 
perity.  It  became  possible  for  manufacturers  and  trades-people  to  borrow 
money,  so  as  to  conduct  their  business  profitably.  This  low  rate  of  interest 
produced  a  demand  for  new  investments,  and  new  enterprises  were  started 
into  life.  Thus,  by  the  policy  of  the  resumption  and  the  refunding  acts,  the 
way  was  paved  for  the  present  era  of  prosperity.  And  the  whole  of  this  was 
the  work  of  the  Republican  p^ty.  If  the  change  desired  by  our  opponents 
four  years  ago  had  occurred,  no  man  can  truly  say  that  such  results  as  these 
would  have  taken  place;  for,  from  Tilden  down,  the  Democratic  party  favored 
the  repeal  of  the  resumption  act.  That  party,  during  these  four  years,  has 
been  the  slave  of  the  most  idle  and  crazy  popular  delusions  of  fiat  money — 
their  leaders  even  talking  about  bloated  bondholders  and  aristocrats— and  was 
ready  to  fan  into  flame  the  passions  of  men  to  mobbish  violence  and  to  fierce 
contentions  between  capital  and  iabor. 

HONEST  PAYMENT  OF  THE  PUBLIC  DEBT. 

Again,  the  policy  of  the  Republican  party  has  always  been  the  honest  and 
faithful  observance  of  public  obligations.  From  the  time  the  public  debt  was 
created  as  the  result  of  the  war,  until  this  hour,  they  have  sought  to  adopt  a 
policy  which  would  secure  its  slow,  but  sure  and  steady  payment,  according 
to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  public  obligations.  No  thought  of  repudiation, 
wholly  or  in  part,  has  ever  entered  into  the  Republican  policy.  The  gradual 
payment  of  the  debt,  and  the  reduction  of  the  rate  of  interest,  have  been 
kindred  measures  of  the  same  policy,  which  have  been  pursued  without  shadow 
of  turning.  The  principal  of  the  debt  had  attained  its  maximum  August  31 , 1865, 
when  it  reached  $2,756,431,571.48.  It  has  been  gradually  paid  off  with  the 
surplus  revenue,  so  that,  on  the  first  day  of  July  of  this  year,  it  was  $1,919,- 
326,747.75.  The  principal  of  the  debt  has  been  reduced  $837,104,823.68,  but  the 
interest  has  been  reduced  in  far  greater  proportion.  In  1865,  the  interest-bear-' 
ing  debt  was  $2,381,530,294.96,  and  the  rate  of  interest  on  part  of  it  was  as 
high  as  seven  and  three-tenths  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  the  interest- charge 
was  $150,977,697.87.  The  interest-charge  had  been  reduced  to  $79,033,981,  on 
the  first  of  July,  1880;  and  we  only  await  the  maturity  of  $720,645,300,  the 
balance  of  the  five  .and  six  per  cent,  bonds,  to  reduce  the  interest-charge  to 
not  exceeding  $70,000,000.  A  Republican  administration  is  now  paying  the 
public  debt  at  the  rate  of  ten  millions  a  month,  or  two  and  a  half  millions  a 
week.  In  all  human  probability,  before  this  administration  closes  its  term 
the  debt  will  be  further  reduced  seventy  millions,  making  a  saving  in  annual 
interest  of  four  millions  of  dollars. 

This  policy  of  debt-paying  and  interest-reducing  is  the  most  striking  in 
the  history  of  any  country.  Other  Nations  have  had  great  debts;  but  no 
Nation  ever  before  paid  it  so  rapidly,  so  justly,  so  honorably.  This  fact  alone 
is  worth  more  in  public  credit  than  all  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  country ;  be¬ 
cause  it  is  a  capital  from  which  we  can  draw  whenever  necessity  requires. 


6 


The  Democratic  party  pursued  an  exactly  opposite  policy.  From  1857  to 
1860,  when  Mr.  Buchanan  was  President,  it  steadily  increased  the  public  debt 
from  $9,998,621.76  to  $59,964,402.01.  At  the  close  of  that  period  it  paid  as  high 
as  twelve  per  cent,  on  one-year  Treasury  notes,  and  sold  six  per  cent,  twenty- 
year  bonds  at  eighty-nine  cents  on  the  .dollar.  While  the  debt  was  being  re¬ 
duced  by  the  Republican  party,  the  Democratic  party  impaired  the  public 
credit  b^  proposing  schemes  to  cheat  the  public  creditor.  Its  influence  was 
the  chief  obstruction  to  the  debt  -paying  and  interest-reducing  policy  of  the 
Republican  party.  In  States  where  it  has  the  ascendency,  like  Virginia, 
Louisiana,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  and  Arkansas,  it  has  either  repudiated  the 
State  debts  or  threatens  to  do  so.  Its  success,  in  a  .\  v  -.1  election,  would, 
in  my  judgment,  greatly  impair  the  public  credit  a-  .  i educe  the  value  of 
public  securities. 

FAITHFUL  COLLECTION  OF  THE  REVENUE. 

Then  again,  under  the  administration  of  President  Hayes  the  revenues  of 
the  Government  have  been  honestly  and  faithfully  collected,  and  honestly  and 
faithfully  disbursed.  Tables  have  been  carefully  made  showing  the  losses 
that  have  occurred  in  the  receipts  and  disbursements  of  the  public  money,  and 
these  exhibit  the  fact  that  during  this  administration  the  losses  by  defalcation 
have  been  reduced  to  the  smallest  percentage  that  has  ever  been  shown  in  any 
administration  of  this  Government,  or  of  any  other  known  to  us. 

During  the  three  years  of  this  administration,  ending  June  30,  1880,  there 
was  collected  from  all  sources  $864,876,359.93.  All  this  vast  sum  has  been  paid 
into  the  Treasury,  excepting  about  $15,000,  and  it  is  believed  that  even  this 
siuu  will  be  recovered.  The  internal  revenue  collected  in  every  part  of  the 
United  States  lias  been  paid  into  the  Treasury  without  the  loss  of  a  dollar. 
Besides  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  the  great  transactions  of  the  Post-Office 
Department,  extending  all  over  the  country,  and  collecting  and  disbursing  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  three  years  an  amount  of  more  than  $250,000,000,  have  thus  far 
been  made  with  the  loss  of  less  than  $1,300.  In  the  small  defalcations  that 
have  occurred,  suits  haye  been  promptly  broifght  against  the  defaulting  of¬ 
ficers  or  their  sureties,  and  judgments  enforced.  A  system  of  rigid  account¬ 
ability  for  public  moneys  has  been  applied,  without  fear  or  favor,  with  results 
that  never  before  have  been  realized  by  any  administration. 

The  disbursement  of  this  money  by  public  officers  at  home  and  abroad  has 
been  made  for  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  appropriated  by  Congress,  abso¬ 
lutely  without  loss  or  defalcation  so  far  as  known  to  the  Government. 

During  the  administration  of  James  Buchanan,  the  loss  by  defalcation  of 
public  officers  in  the  collection  and  disbursement  of  the  public  moneys  was 
$3.81on  every  $1,000;  during  Pierce’s  administration  it  was  $3.56;  during 
Polk’s  administration  it  was^$4.08;  during  Jackson’s  administration  it  was 
$7.52;  during  Van  Buren’s  administration  it  was  $11.71.  Mark  the  contrast 
with  Republican  administrations : 

In  Lincoln’s  time,  embracing  the  recklessness  caused  by  war,  it  was  (76 
cents.  For  six  years  of  Grant’s  administration  it  was  34  cents.  In  Hayes’ 

.  administration  thus  far — assuming  that  all  amounts  in  dispute  are  lost — the 
loss  on  $1,000  would  be  so  small  that  the  smallest  coin  of  the  country  would 
make  it  good  three  times.  It  has  been  but  one-third  of  a  cent  on  $1,000  of  the 
amount  involved. 

REDUCTION  OF  EXPENSES. 

Again,  this  administration  has  effected  a  striking  reduction  of  the  expenses 
of  those  branches  of  the  public  service  over  which  the  Executive  has  complete 
control.  The  appropriation  for  the  collection  of  the  customs  revenue  is  a  per¬ 
manent  one,  entirely  dependent  for  the  amount  of  its  expenditure  upon  the 
Treasury  Department.  While  the  revenues  of  the  Government  have  enor¬ 
mously  increased,  the  expenditures  have  been  largely  diminished.  The  ex¬ 
pense  of  collecting  over  $188,000,000  customs  duties  during  the  last  fiscal  year 
was  only  three  and  one-tenth  per  cent.,  while  the  expense  of  collecting  $53,- 
000,000  in  1860,  during  President  Buchanan’s  time,  was  six  and  two-tenths  per 
cent,  on  the  amount  collected— just  double.  On  the  1st  of  July  last,  there  was 
returned  to  the  Treasury  $2,000,000  of  money  that  had  been  saved  out  of  the 
appropriation  for  the  collection  of  the  customs  revenue ;  and  in  the  expenses  for 
refunding  the  loan,  for  which  an  appropriation  of  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  is 
made,  the  Treasury  Department  returned  to  the  Treasury,  on  the  1st  of  July 
last,  $1,000,000  saved.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  has  returned  to  the  Treas¬ 
ury  very  large  sums,  saved  by  a  careful  and  honest  administration  of  that 
Department.  There  was  carried  to  the  surplus  fund,  on  the  30tli  of  June,  1880, 


7 


$8,434,416,  money  appropriated  for  the  different  Departments  for  that  year  and 
remaining  unexpended.  Does  any  one  believe  that  a  Democratic  administra¬ 
tion  could  have  attained  these  results  ¥ 

RESULT  UPON  BUSINESS  PROSPERITY. 

And  what  has  been  the  result  of  Republican  administration  under  Presi¬ 
dent  Hayes  upon  the  general  business  interests  of  the  country  ¥  We  have  wit¬ 
nessed^  and  are  now  enjoying,  the  greatest  revival  of  business  of  modern 
times.  We  have  leaped  forward  from  a  period  of  extreme  distress  to  one  of 
great  prosperity.  Our  exports  during  the  last  fiscal  year  reached  the  enor¬ 
mous  sum  of  $835,000,000,  being  an  increase  since  1875  of  over  $320,000,000.  Our  im¬ 
ports  during  the  last  fiscal  year  were  $668,000,000,  being  an  increase  since  1875 
of  $135,000,000,  and  making  an  aggregate  foreign  commerce  of  the  last  year  of 
over  $1,500,000,000.  Every  Nation  contributes  to  our  comfort.  From  every 
land  and  from  every  sea,  and  from  every  part  of  our  country,  we  gather  the 
productions  of  their  labor  to  supply  our  daily  wants.  Our  manufactures  in 
all  branches  have  increased,  so  that  not  only  do  we  supply  the  domestic  mar¬ 
kets  with  nearly  all  the  articles  essential  to  human  life,  but  we  export  in 
great  quantities  the  productions  of  the  workshop  and  the  farm. 

We  now  feed  Europe  not  only  with  grain,  but  with  meat,  butter,  lard,  can¬ 
ned  fruits,  and  an  infinite  variety  of  other  productions.  We  are  gradually 
gaining  trade  in  other  countries,  north  and  south,  and  may  hope,  m  a  short 
time,  to  supply  them  with  nearly  all  the  articles  of  foreign  production  they 
desire.  In  the  great  branches  of  industry — agriculture,  manufactures,  and 
mining — we  are  now  taking  our  rank  as  the  leading  Nation.  With  plenty  of 
money  as  good  as  gold,  with  plenty  of  work  for  all  who  are  willing  to  work, 
with  cheap  capital,  we  have  now  superadded  the  most  bounteous  crops  that 
ever  blessed  any  portion  of  the  world.  Think  of  wheat  crops  of  450,000,000 
bushels  a  year,  and  corn  crops  of  about  1,800,000,000  a  year,  and  everything 
else  in  proportion.  For  these,  high  prices  have  been  realized.  The  addition 
to  the  wealth  of  the  country  for  the  last  three  or  four  years  can  scarcely  be 
estimated.  We  know  that  our  Government  debt,  formerly  largely  held  abroad, 
is  now  almost  exclusively  held  at  home ;  that  the  mortgages  upon  our  lands 
and  farms  have  been  reduced  to  one-tliird  their  amount  in  1875 ;  that  the 
balance  of  trade  is  so  largely  in  our  favor  that  foreign  countries,  no  longer  able 
to  send  back  our  securities,  are  compelled  to  ship  gold.  The  building  of  rail¬ 
roads  keeps  pace  with  our  general  prosperity.  They  are  crossing  the  plains 
and  exploring  every  valley,  and  year  by  year  we  hear  of  new  settlements  of 
fertile  territory  hitherto  unavailable  for  tillage,  whose  surplus  products  in¬ 
crease,  our  resources.  The  number  and  amount  of  business  failures  have  been 
reduced  more  than  one-half .  In  a  word,  all  the  circumstances  and  elements 
that  indicate  increased  wealth  and  prosperity  to  our  whole  country  seem  to 
combine  to  make  its  immediate  f  uturef  exceedingly  bright.  The  rough  road 
has  been  traveled  and  the  smooth  one  is  now  before  us. 

Our  National  prosperity  has  excited  the  attention  of  all  European  Nations, 
and  has  set  in  motion  again  the  stream  of  immigrants,  whose  labor  has  added 
so  greatly  to  our  growth  and  productions.  The  number  who  arrived  during 
the  last  fiscal  year  was  455,495,  against  177,826  in  1879.  During  the  month  of 
June  last,  72,567  immigrants  reached  our  shore,  and  since  March  1,  to  the  latest 
date  of  which  we  have  reports,  the  number  is  about  328,000,  or  more  than 
enough  to  form  a  State.  * 

THE  CAUSE  OF  OUR  PROSPERITY. 

We  can  fairly  claim  that  the  renewal  of  business  is  the  natural  result  of 
the  policy  of  the  Republican  party.  1.  '  vy  public  measure  that  has  contributed 
to  it  was  a  Republican  measure.  An  nonest  and  faithful  administration  of 
the  Government;  a  firm  adherence  to  the  resumption  and  refunding  act ;  the 
maintenance  of  the  public  faith  as  against  fiat  money,  and  the  protection  pol¬ 
icy  embodied  in  our  tariff  laws,  are  the  human  agencies,  the  work  of  the  Re- 

Sublican  party,  that  have  contributed  to  our  prosperity.  It  is  true  that  Provi- 
ence  gave  us  bounteous  crops,  but  these  came  after  resumption  was  secure, 
and  after  we  had  laid  the  foundation  of  honest  money  and  diversified  indus¬ 
try,  which  enabled  us  to  improve  the  blessings  of  Providence.  Certain  it  is 
that  we  owe  no  part  of  our  prosperity  to  the  Democratic  party. 

DEMOCRATIC  PRETENSES. 

That  party,  for  more  than  five  years,  has  had  control  of  one  branch  of  Con¬ 
gress,  and  for  nearly  two  years  of  both  branches.  What  lias  it  done,  or  pro- 


k 


f 


posed  to  do,  to  benefit  the  public,  or  to  evince  any  disposition  to  bring  about 
reforms?  It  set  out  with  a  great  pretense  of  reducing  the  expenditures  of 
the  Government.  It  clipped  here  and  there  the  salaries  of  clerks,  or  reduced 
their  number,  and,  in  some  cases,  seriously  obstructed  the  public  business.  It 
withheld  necessary  appropriations  for  a  time  to  show  a  reduction  of  expenses, 
but  was  compelled  to  make  them  good  by  deficiency  bills. 

I  have  before  me  a  table  showing  the  appropriations  that  have  been  made 
by  Congress  each  year  for  each  branch  of  the  service  since  1873.  In  1875,  the 
last  year  in  which  the  Republicans  had  a  majority  in  both  Houses,  the  appro¬ 
priations  made  for  the  fiscal  year  1876  were  $147,714,940.  At  the  next  session 
the  Democrats  controlled  the  House,  and,  by  refusing  to  appropriate  for  some 
of  the  most  necessary  expenses  of  the  Government,  reduced  the  appropria¬ 
tions  to  $124,122,010,  and  the  following  year,  in  order  to  coerce  the  President 
by  a  failure  to  pass  the  Army  bill  and  to  provide  for  other  necessary  expenses, 
they  reduced  the  appropriations  to  $88,356,983;  but  at  the  following  session,  to 
snake  good  these  deficiencies  and  to  repair  the  faults  committed,  they  appro¬ 
priated  $172,016,809,  being  $25,000,000  more  than  was  appropriated  in  1876 ;  and 
xn  1880  they  appropriated  $162,404,647;  and  for  1881  they  have  appropriated 
$154,118,212",  or  $7,000,000  more  than  the  appropriations  made  the  last  year  the 
Republicans  controled  the  House.  The  appropriations  made  for  the  current 
fiscal  year  by  a  Democratic  Congress,  in  a  time  when  the  currency  is  upon  the 
specie  standard,  are  as  large  as  in  the  year  1873,  made  by  a  Republican  Congress 
yrlien  our  currency  was  at  a  discount  of  twelve  per  cent.,  and  when  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  was  paying  large  war  claims. 

Thus,  it  appears  that  the  boasted  economy  of  a  Democratic  House,  in  a 
time  of  profound  peace,  in  spite  of  the  large  reductions  made  by  a  Republican 
administration,  has  resulted  in  an  increase  of  appropriations  from  year  to 
year. 

PROPOSED  NO  MEASURE  OF  RELIEF. 

During  all  this  time  the  Democrats  have  proposed  no  reduction  of  taxes  and 
no  measure  of  relief  to  the  industrial  interests  of  the  country.  Paralyzed  by 
their  responsibility,  they  did  not  even  dare  to  propose  a  modification  of  the 
tariff  laws,  or  bring  about  any  financial  reform,  which  they  had  promised  so 
often  and  so  long.  They  neglected  the  most  necessary  changes  in  our  tax  laws, 
such  as  a  modification  of  the  tax  on  sugar,  leaving  the  Department  to  struggle 
with  litigation  and  controversy  without  legislative  aid.  They  can  point  to  no 
law  passed  during  their  time  which  even  purports  to  bring  relief  to  the  people, 
to  lessen  the  burdens  of  taxation,  or  to  advance  the  public  interests.  Their 
whole  effort  for  years  was  to  repeal  the  resumption  law,  to  continue  in  some 
form  a  depreciated  currency,  or  to  cripple  and  impair  the  public  credit, 
puling  the  last  year  or  two  it  has  been  expended  in  a  futile  attempt  to 
repeal  the  election  laws,  intended  to  protect  the  elective  franchise  from  fraud 
and  violence.  This  they  attempted  in  a  revolutionary  mode.  They  attached 
the  conditions  of  repeal  to  appropriation  bills  necessary  to  the  support  of  the 
Government ;  and  when  the  President  disapproved  such  repeal  they  left  im¬ 
portant  branches  of  the  service  without  any  appropriation,  and  compelled  our 
soldiers  on  the  frontier  and  our  army  officers  to  borrow  money  to  meet  their 
current  expenses,  while  the  Treasury  was  overflowing  with  money  due  to 
them. 

THEY  AVANT  A  CHANGE— ITS  EFFECTS. 

\ 

And  now,  in  1880,  they  want  a  change ;  not  a  change  in  the  Democratic 
House  or  Senate,  but  a  change  in  the  Executive  branch  of  the  Government, 
so  that  all  branches  of  the  Government  will  be  practically  under  their  poAver 
and  control.  It  is  known  very  well  that  within  a  period  of  four  years  the  elec¬ 
tion  of  a  Democratic  President  would  probably,  by  the  chances  of  life,  con¬ 
vert  the  Supreme  Court  into  a  citafiel  of  the  principles  and  policy  of  the  Dem¬ 
ocratic  partjr,  and  change  the  national  tendencies  of  that  great  tribunal  into 
a  machine  to  cripple  the  Government  in  its  power  to  protect  the  rights  of  the 
freedmen  by  the  adoption  of  the  narrow  notions  of  State  rights  which  gov¬ 
erned  the  Democratic  party  before  the  war. 

And  avho  are  they  who  propose  tills  radical  change  in  our  Government  1 
It  is  the  same  Democratic  party  that  in  1860  sought  to  overthrow  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  governed  by  the  self-same  men  ortheir  lineal  descendants,  and  the  same 
elements  which  controlled  the  policy  of  the  administration  of  James  Buchanan. 
Who  control  that  party  now  ?  The  basis,  the  governing  power,  of  that  party 
is  in  the  Solid  South.  That  segment  of  the  party  Avill  furnish  one  hundred 
and  six  members  of  Congress  and  thirty-two  Senators,  and;  by  their  numerical 


9 


majority  over  their  Democratic  associates,  will  dictate  the  policy  and  laws  of 
our  Government.  Next  in  importance  would  be  the  influence  of  New  York 
city,  whose  vote  is  so  potent  in  wielding  the  political  power  of  the  great  State 
of  New  York — a  city  that  for  many  years  has  been  governed  by  corruption, 
that  practiced  the  frauds  in  the  election  of  1868,  and  is  confessedly  under  the 
domination  of  the  most  dangerous  elements  of  American  society.  They  can 
claim  no  Northern  States  except  what  they  derive  from  the  shadow  of  the  in¬ 
fluence  which  centres  around  New  York,  and,  perhaps,  the  State  of  Indiana; 
but  we  dispute  with  them  their  ascendency  in  that  gallant  State.  And  thus 
these  elements,  embracing  the  worst  features  of  American  politics  and  society, 
would  rule  this  National  Government  in  all  its  branches,  and  restore  again  all 
the  ideas,  principles,  and  acts  from  which  we  escaped  by  the  election  of  Abra¬ 
ham  Lincoln. 

The  bone  and  sinew,  the  heart  and  brains,  of  the  North  are  now,  as  then, 
with  the  Republican  party.  That  section  which  furnishes  the  capital,  the  com¬ 
merce,  the  trade,  the  enterprise,  the  vital  energy  to  our  system,  is  to  be  subor¬ 
dinated  to  a  section  which  still  clings  to  the  idea  that  this  is  not  a  Nation,  but 
a  confederacy,  that  its  powers  are  dependent  for  enforcement  upon  the  narrow 
and  provincial  ideas  of  insignificant  States.  This  is  the  change  they  propose. 
This  is  the  revolution  they  would  bring  about. 

Wiiat  reasons  do  they  give,  what  motives  do  they  assign,  as  the  basis 
of  such  a  revolution  ? 

Senator  Pendleton  says  they  want  a  chance  to  examine  the  books  of  the 
Treasury  Department.  The  books  of  the  Treasury  are  now,  and  have  been  for 
years,  under  the  surveillance  of  the  Democratic  majority  of  the  House.  Com¬ 
mittees  of  both  Houses  have  explored  the  recesses  of  that  Department,  ex¬ 
amined  its  books,  compared  the  figures,  and  what  have  they  found?  They 
claim  that  in  1870  great  discrepancies  were  shown  in  the  statements  of  the  pub¬ 
lic  accounts ;  but  these  discrepancies,  after  a  full  and  fair  examination,  have 
been  fully  explained  as  the  necessary  result  of  keeping  two  sets  of  books  in 
different  offices  of  the  Government,  which,  embracing  different  items,  from 
their  nature,  must  differ  on  a  given  day,  in  some  cases,  to  the  amount  of  mill¬ 
ions  of  dollars ;  but  when  these  discrepancies  are  examined,  and  the  elements 
which  enter  into  the  one  and  do  not  enter  into  the  other,  are  explained  and 
compared,  the  books  are  found  to  be  correct  in  every  particular. 

Thus  the  Register’s  books  still  show  as  money  in  the  Treasury  about 
$28,000,000  deposited  by  the  several  States,  under  an  act  of  Congress,  in  1836. 
These  books  also  treat  as  money  in  the  Treasury  all  the  great  defalcations  that 
occurred  in  the  Democratic  times,  many  years  ago,  with  pet  banks,  and  other 
public  depositaries,  and  other  defaulters,  although  the  bills  of  the  pet  banks 
are  worth  no  more  in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  than  Confederate  notes,  and 
the  defaulters  and  their  generation  have  crumbled  into  dust  years  ago.  The 
Treasur  er’s  books,  however,  treat  these  items  as  unavailable,  and  not  as  money 
on  hand,  and  thus  there  is  a  difference  between  these  two  accounts  of  many 
millions  of  dollars.  Secretary  Boutwell,  not  being  satisfied  with  this  mode  of 
stating  the  public  accounts,  and  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  Congress,  did  elim¬ 
inate  from  the  cash  statement  these  unavailable  items.  Formerly,  the  state¬ 
ment  of  the  public  debt  only  included  the  principal  of  the  debt,  and  not  the  in¬ 
terest.  He  changed  the  form  of  the  monthly  debt  statement  so  as  to  include 
not  only  the  principal,  but  the  interest  accruing  on  outstanding  bonds  not  yet 
due,  and  deducting  from  the  aggregate  the  cash  in  the  Treasury. 

This  was  a  decided  improvement  in  book-keeping,  and  exhibited  the  exact 
state  of  the  public  debt.  This  has  bothered  my  friend,  Senator  Davis,  of 
West  Virginia,  ever  since.  He  talks  of  changes  and  discrepancies,  but  he  does 
not  pretend  that  there  has  been  any  misapplication  of  public  moneys.  As  one 
of  a  Senate  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Bayard  was  a  member,  I  examined 
thoroughly  these  charges  when  first  made,  five  or  six  years  ago,  and  the  most 
careful  and  searching  scrutiny  showed  that  they  involved  no  misstatement,  no 
inaccuracy,  no  peculation,  no  wrong.  The  change  in  book-keeping  was  made 
ten  years  ago,  and  since  that  time  it  is  not  claimed  that  there  has  been  any  dis¬ 
crepancy,  or  error,  or  fault.  While  I  have  had  charge  of  the  Treasury  Depart¬ 
ment  I  have  inVited  the  utmost  scrutiny,  furnished  committees  of  Congress 
with  rooms  in  the  Treasury,  given  them  access  to  all  the  books,  given  them 
the  aid  of  skilled  experts  to  assist  them,  and  they  report  that  everything  is  now 
entirely  satisfactory,  and  that  the  discrepancies,  which  they  refuse  to  under¬ 
stand,  though  amply  explained,  do  not  now  occur. 


10 


THE  CRY  OF  FRAUD. 

Mr.  Tilden  says  they  want  a  change  in  order  to  condemn  what  he  alleges 
was  the  fraud  of  1877.  But  this  pretended  fraud  consists  simply  in  the  fact 
that  the  Electoral  Commission,,  a  tribunal  which  they  aided  to  organize,  and 
Whose  judgment  they  agreed  to  abide,  decided  differently  from  what  they 
expected.  I  did  not  believe  in  that  tribunal.  I  believed  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws  already  furnished  ample  means  to  ascertain  and  determine  the  result 
of  the  vote  of  the  electors  ;  but  they  forced  the  adoption  of  this  Commission  as 
a  means  to  exclude  votes  duly  returned  from  some  of  the  Southern  States. 
They  failed  in  this,  and  from  that  time  they  have  cried  out,  “  fraud,  fraud.” 
The  fraud  that  existed  in  the  election  of  1876  was  the  fraud,  violence,  and  in¬ 
timidation  practiced  by  the  Democratic  party  in  at  least  five  of  the  Southern 
States,  but  m  such  a  bungling  way  in  Louisiana  that  it  was  promptly  corrected 
by  the  returning  officers  of  that  State.  In  South  Carolina  and  Florida  the  ac¬ 
tual  vote  cast,  as  well  as  the  legal  vote,  was  in  favor  of  the  Republican  elect¬ 
ors.  They  attempted  in  Oregon,  where  the  people  had  without  question  voted 
for  the  Haves  electors,  by  narrow  technicalities  to  exclude  the  Republican 
electors  and  to  recognize  the  Democratic  electors,  and  large  sums  of  money 
were  confessedly  paid  to  accomplish  this  fraud. 

THE  REAL  FRAUDS. 

The  two  great  frauds  attempted  in  that  election  by  the  Democratic  party 
were,  first,  the  completion  of  the  conspiracy  of  the  rebel  element  of  the 
South  to  deprive'the  Republicans  of  the  South  of  their  rights  and  privileges  as 
American  citizens ;  and.  the  second  was  the  attempt  to  bribe  electors  for  Pres¬ 
ident  to  vote  for  Tilden  instead  of  Hayes.  It  is  to  divert  public  attention  from 
these  admitted  frauds  that  this  cry  of  fraud  is  raised.  Let  us  look  for  a  mo¬ 
ment  at  these  admitted  frauds.  Shortly  after  the  War  there  were  organized 
in  nearly  all  the  Southern  States  secret  political  bands,  composed  entirely  of 
Democrats,  and  mostly  of  rebel  soldiers,  whose  object  was  to  overawe  the 
freedmen  of  the  South,  to  deter  them  from  enjoying  the  civil  and  political 
rights  conferred  by  the  Constitutional  Amendments ;  and  whose  methods  were 
terror,  whipping,  wounding,  and  murder,  committed  by  armed  bands  of  dis¬ 
ciplined  and  disguised  men,  at  night,  upon  poor,  ignorant,  and  undisciplined 
negroes.  There  is  nothing  recorded  in  history  more  cruel  and  cowardly  than 
the  organization,  objects  and  work  of  these  Klans ;  you  can  read  it  in  great 
volumes  of  testimony  taken  year  after  year  by  committees  of  Congress.  There 
you  will  find  the  pathetic  stories  of  the  victims  of  these  atrocities,  and  the 
number  of  the  dead  who  perished  by  them.  There  you  will  find  the  confessions 
of  the  guilty.  You  can  read  the  story  in  ‘‘The  Fool’s  Errand,  by  one  of  the 
Fools,”  a  narrative  written  by  a  Union  officer,  and  who  presents  with  the 
atrocities  committed  all  the  palliating  circumstances  as  claimed  by  the  Klans. 
You  may  read  it  in  the  eloquent  denunciations  of  Reverdy  Johnson  and  Henry 
Stanbery,  sent  South  to  defend  members  of  the  Klans.  No  man  can  honesUy 
deny  that  this  conspiracy,  its  existence,  its  aims,  and  its  crimes  have  been 
proven  and  are  true,  and  yet  the  strength  and  power  of  the  Democratic  party 
in  the  South  this  day  rests  upon  the  success  of  this  crime,  or  culmination  of 
crimes.  It  is  this  that  gives  them  them  the  solid  South.  These  crimes  entered 
into  the  title  by  which  Tilden  claimed  to  be  elected  President.  It  was  in  1875 
that  the  Mississippi  plan  of  terror  was  enforced  in  that  State  with  savage  bar¬ 
barity  ;  and  in  1876,  Mississippi,  with  a  known  Republican  majority  of  25,000, 
was  helplessly  in  the  power  of  rifle  clubs,  who  cast  its  vote  for  Tilden.  In 
Louisiana  and  South  Carolina,  the  same  plan  was  attempted,  but  only  in  a  com¬ 
paratively  few  couuties,  and  in  these  the  same  terrible  agencies  of  murder, 
burning,  whipping  and  terror  were  inflicted  by  disguised  Democrats,  and 
solely  with  a  view  to  prevent  Republican  votes.  Don’t  tell  me  you  don’t  be¬ 
lieve  these  things,  for  the  man  who  would  not  believe  upon  such  testimony  as 
has  been  furnished  would  not  believe  his  own  mother  who  testified  to  his  birth. 
It  is  fortunate  that  this  conspiracy  was  defeated  by  the  faithful  and  loyal  per¬ 
formance  of  public  duty  under  the  law  by  the  election  officers  of  Louisiana 
and  South  Carolina,  in  spite  of  efforts  to  bribe  them.  But  for  their  honesty 
and  courage,  a  President  would  have  been  installed  whose  title  rested  upon 
murder  and  bribery,  and  the  blessing  of  God  never  could  have  rested  upon 
such  an  administration. 

Do  you  want  me  to  prove  to  you  the  second  crime  connected  with  the  elec¬ 
tion  of  i876-7,  namely,  the  attempt  made  by  the  agents  of  Mr.  Tilden  to  bribe 
electors  from  the  discharge  of  their  duties  ?  The  cipher  telegrams  which 
were  deciphered  and  published  to  the  world,  written  and  signed  by  leading 


11 


members  of  the  Democratic  party,  speak  for  themselves.  They  show  the  most 
reckless  and  shameful  attempts  at  bribery  of  the  officers  of  the  Government 
charged  with  important  duties  in  connection  with  the  returns  of  electors. 
Great  bribes  were  offered  to  electors  to  violate  the  honorable  duty  intrusted 
to  them,  and  returning  officers  were  tempted  with  promises  of  money  and 
office  if  they  would  make  false  returns.  It  is  to  the  honor  of  our  country  that 
this  movement  utterly  failed.  Not  a  single  officer  accepted  a  bribe,  and,  to 
use  the  language  of  Mr.  Tilden,  the  whole  resulted  in  a  “futile  dalliance.”  So 
much  for  the  great  cry  of  fraud. 

But  fellow-citizens,  this  cry  is  now  the  sheerest  hypocrisy.  If  the  Demo¬ 
cratic  party  believed  in  it,  why  was  not  Mr.  Tilden  renominated  1  Then  the 
people  could  have  tried  the  alleged  fraud.  But  the  fraud  practiced  by  the 
Democratic  party  in  the  South  is  a  continuing  fraud— two  years  ago,  last  year, 
and  this  year— continued  openly  with  grim  humor,  and  justified  by  the  domi¬ 
nant  opinion  South,  and  by  the  acquiescence  of  the  Democracy  of  the  North. 
It  is  only  by  this  fraud  that  that  party  hopes  for  success.  If  nowthereisa 
change  in  the  Executive  branch  of  the  "Government,  it  will  be  caused  by  the 
grave  and  startling  fact  that  the  rebels  of  the  South  have,  b^  bloody  means, 
succeeded  in  overthrowing  the  constitutional  rights  of  five  millions  of  freed- 
men,  and  the  Democratic  party  of  the  North,  eager  for  power  and  place,  co¬ 
operate  with  the  rebels  of  the  South  in  this  crime,  by  sharing  in  the  power 
and  places  secured  by  it. 

STATE  RIGHTS  VERSUS  NATIONAL  RIGHTS. 

Senator  Thurman  says  they  want  to  bring  about  a  change,  so  as  to  restore 
the  old  time-honored  doctrine  of  the  Democratic  party  in  respect  to  State 
rights.  This,  I  believe,  is  an  honest  statement  of  the  chief  desire  of  the  party. 
They  wish,  under  the  forms  of  a  party  contest,  to  turn  back  the  dial  of  time  for 
twenty  years  from  the  national  principles  that  have  guided  the  Republican 
party  to  the  sectionalism  that  prevailed  before  the  war.  We  accept  the  issue. 

The  dividing  line  between  the  two  parties  is.  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  powers  and  duties  of  the  National  Government.  We  believe  that  this  is  a 
government  of  the  people,  with  powers  limited  and  defined  by' a  written  con¬ 
stitution,  but  embracing  all  the  great  and  essential  functions  of  a  National 
Government,  with  amide  authority  to  make,  execute,  and  construe  laws,  and 
to  enforce  them  upon  and  execute  them  against  every  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  without  respect  to  State  lines.  We  believe  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Government  to  protect  all  citizens  in  equal  civil  and  political  rights, 
and  to  maintain  national  existence  and  authority  against  all  who  resist  it, 
whether  they  muster  under  a  foreign  flag  or  under  State  or  local  authority. 
We  believe  that  the  States  are  also  mere  agents  of  the  people,  intrusted  by 
them  with  limited  powers,  set  out  in  written  constitutions.  Their  powers  and 
duties  are  highly  important.  They  affect  the  local  and  domestic  relations  of 
life  and  the  protection  of  property.  No  Republican  would  impair,  in  the  least, 
the  dignity,  importance,  or  rights  of  the  States  ;  but,  after  all,  they  are  subor¬ 
dinate  to  the  United  States  in  all  the  great  powers  of  the  Government  defined 
by  the  Constitution.  The  State  cannot  be  made  a  shield  to  prevent  the  Na¬ 
tional  Government  from  protecting  all  the  citizens  of  qvery  State  in  the  rights 
conferred  upon  them  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States;  and  in  case  of 
a^ dispute  as  to  the  limit  and  extent  of  these  rights,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  is  the  final  judge  and  arbiter. 

Here  the  Democratic  party  takes  issue  with  us  in  principle  and  detail. 
Under  the  dogma  of  State  rights,  that  party  gradually  subordinated  the  rights 
and  powers  of  the  National  Government  to  those  of  the  several  States  until  it 
finally  claimed  that  any  State  might  nullify  the  laws  of  the  United  States  and 
secede  from  the  Union. 

You  will  always  find  the  Democratic  party  opposed  to  our  view  of  national 
authority.  It  seeks  to  belittle,  to  degrade,  and  cripple  the  National  Govern¬ 
ment;  to  subordinate  the  rights  of  the  citizen  and  the  Nation  to  the  law  or 
public  opinion  of  the  State;  to  treat  the  National  Government  as  a  Confeder¬ 
acy  of  States,  without  power  to  enforce  personal  rights  or  national  interests 
within  the  limits  of  the  State  without  the  consent  of  the  State.  You  will  find 
this  radical  difference  cropping  out  in  every  contest  on  every  question,  great 
or  small,  that  enters  into  American  politics.  It  was  this  that  led  to  the  civil 
war.  Under  the  lead  of  the  Republican  party  the  Union  was  preserved,  the 
Constitution  was  maintained  in  its  full  vigor,  and  strengthened  by  amend¬ 
ments  so  as  to  declare  the  equal  civil  and  political  rights  of  all  men,  without 
distinction  of  race,  color,  or  condition,  and  that  Congress  should  enforce  these 


12 


rights  by  appropriate  legislation.  Upon  these  terms  the  rebels  were  restored 
to  their  rights  and  privileges  as  American  citizens,  and  now,  with  their  North¬ 
ern  associates,  under  the  name  of  the  Democratic  party,  they  revive  the  old 
contest,  and  deny  to  American  citizens  the  protection  of  national  rights  by 
national  authority.  ' 

This  doctrine  of  State  rights  is  the  basis  of  opposition  to  National  banks, 
to  the  protection  of  American  industry,  to  the  National  election  laws,  and 
protection  of  the  ballot-box,  and  to  the  navigation  laws.  Whenever  the  ques¬ 
tion  arises  in  national  politics,  you  will  always  find  the  Republican  party  in 
favor  of  the  enforcement  of  all  the  rights,  civil  and  political,  conferred  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  while  the  Democratic  party  oppose  the  en¬ 
forcement  of  these  rights  and  leave  the  citizen  to  the  tender  mercy  of  local  or 
State  law. 

It  is  for  the  patriotic  people  of  this  country  to  say  whether  they  want  a 
change  back  from  the  national  tendencies  of  the  Republican  party  to  the  prin¬ 
ciples  that  brought  our  Government  to  the  verge  of  dissolution  in  the  days  of 
Buchanan.  The  principles  of  the  Southern  States,  with  their  bloody  violence, 
are  the  fruit  of  Judge  Thurman’s  doctrine,  while  those  of  the  Northern  States 
are  the  outgrowth  of  Republican  ideas. 

Senator  Hampton,  in  a  recent  speech  at  Staunton,  Va.,  stated  the  issue 
fairly  : 

“  Consider  what  Lee  and  Jackson  would  do  were  they  alive.  These  are 
the  same  principles  for  which  they  fought  for  four  years.  Remember  the 
men  who  poured  forth  their  life  blood  on  Virginia’s  soil,  and  do  not  abandon 
them  now.” 

The  South  did  fight  for  the  rights  of  the  States  as  they  understood  them ; 
and  this  contest  has  already  cost  the  Nation  half  a  millidn  of  lives  and  over 
4,  six  thousand  millions  of  dollars.  It  is  for  the  people  of  the  North,  who  took 
the  burden  of  this  contest  upon  themselves,  to  say  whether,  within  twenty 
vears  after  our  heroes  were  sacrificed  in  the  war,  and  while  the  debt  still  bears 
heavily,  they  are  willing,  for  the  sake  of  gratifying  the  Democratic  part)r,  to 
vindicate  the  principles  against  which  we  fought.  N  or  does  it  help  the  matter  any 
that  this  party,  with  such  aims  and  ends,  baits  its  hook  with  a  soldier  who  did 
honorable  service  in  our  cause.  We  are  intelligent  enough  to  look  beyond 
this  tempting  bait  to  the  animating  principles  which  lie  behind  this  demand 
for  a  change.  They  say  they  want  Hancock,  a  major-general  in  the  regular 
Army.  We  had  for  several  years,  while  General  Grant  was  President,  Demo¬ 
cratic  declamation  without  limit  against  military  rule.  We  have  been  warned 
by  the  lessons  of  history  that  free  institutions  are  only  endangered  by  ambi¬ 
tious  men,  who  may  seek,  under  military  forms,  to  enslave  the  people.  And 
yet  this  party,  forgetting  their  declamation,  propose  to  take  a  soldier  who  has 
had  no  civil  experience,  whose  mind  was  developed  in  a  military  school,  and  whose 
life  has  been  spent  under  military  laws ;  but  they  take  him  to  carry  out  and 
maintain  the  principles  for  which  they  fought,  and  not  those  for  which  he 
fought  under  Republican  auspices.  Excepting  the  adoption  of  the  old  doctrine 
of  State  rights,  I  know  no  distinctive  principle  of  the  Democratic  party, which 
can  be  named  by  an  intelligent  citizen,  no  other  measure  which  they  seek  to 
accomplish,  no  other  policy  which  they  seek  to  develop,  and  yet  we  are  asked 
to  make  this  great  change. 

And  now,  fellow-citizens,  suppose  a  change  is  made;  suppose  the  restraint 
of  a  Republican  President  is  withdrawn,  what  will  the  Democratic  party  do 
under  the  doctrine  for  which  Judge  Thurman  and  General  Hampton  plead? 
On  the  day  of  the  inauguration  a  horde  of  greedy  office-seekers,  hungry  in 
search  of  office,  will  come  down  upon  the  heads  of  Departments  with  their 
claims  for  reward  for  xiart.y  services,  and  inexperienced  men  will  be  thrust  in 
to  discharge  the  most  difficult  functions  of  official  life.  Trained  and  experi¬ 
enced  officers,  whose  capacity  and  fidelity  are  recognized  everywhere,  will  be 
turned  out,  and  the  great  operations  of  the  Government  be  placed  at  once  in 
inexperienced  hands. 

A  still  more  dangerous  horde  of  claim-agents,  now  haunting  Washington, 
already  keen  for  plunder  and  versed  in  all  the  tricks  of  the  trade,  will  seek  to 
open  the  doors  of  the  Treasury  to  the  brood  of  Southern  claims,  which,  despite 
our  overflowing  revenues,  will  bankrupt  the  Treasury  in  a  year.  Thus  far, 
during  this  administration,  the  gate  has  been  put  down  and  barred  against  all 
these  claims.  The  statute  of  limitations  and  the  decisions  of  the  Department 
have  cut  them  off ;  but,  under  a  Democratic  administration  of  the  Treasury 
Department,  how  easy  it  would  be  to  break  down  this  barrier.  I  know 
from  my  personal  knowledge  a  number  of  claim-agents,  influential  men,  who 


13 


will  vote  for  Hancock  on  the  ground  that  his  election  will  enable  them  to 
recover  claims  now  barred.  All  that  is  needed  to  cause  the  refunding  of  the 
cotton  tax,  amounting  to  $68,000,000,  is  an  appropriation.  Most  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  South,  through  their  constituents,  are  interested  in  these  claims. 

A  slight  extension  of  the  period  of  limitation,  as  to  claims  for  captured 
and  abandoned  cotton,  will  open  up  tens  of  millions  of  this  class  of  claims. 
An  enlargement  by  half  a  dozen  words  of  the  law  for  the  payment  of  quarter¬ 
master’s  stores,  will  bring  upon  the  Treasury  demands  for  more  than  one  hun¬ 
dred  million  dollars  for  food  consumed  by  our  army  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion, 
taken  from  disloyal  people,  and  for  damage  done  to  them  as  a  natural  result 
or  consequence  of  the  war.  Experience  has  shown  that  to  swell  these  claims 
tenfold  or  even  a  hundred-fold,  testimony  can  be  manufactured  with  the 
greatest  facility  and  apparently  of  the  clearest  character.  Should  this  be 
acted  upon  by  an  officer  friendly  to  the  object,  no  man  can  estimate  the  de¬ 
mands  that  in  this  way,  under  cover  of  right,  maybe  foisted  upon  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  And  why  should  not  this  be  done  ?  If  the  principles  of 
the  Democratic  party  are  to  be  again  adopted  by  the  votes  of  the  people,  and 
the  very  men  who  fought  for  them  are  to  be  placed  in  power,  why  should  they 
not  be  indemnified  for  their  losses  ?  Why  should  they  not  be  paid  for  their 
slaves?  Why  should  not  the  brave  rebels  who  fought  for  their  principles  be 
placed  on  the  pension  roll?  Even  a  change  in  decisions  by  the  Secretaries  of 
War  and  Treasury  would  bring  upon  the  Government  tens  of  millions  of  dol¬ 
lars  of  Southern/  claims.  • 

But  again,  if  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party  twenty  years  ago,  and 
the  men  who  fought  for  them,  are  restored  to  power,  you  will  find  the  same 
slavish  acquiescence  of  the  Democratic  fragments  of  the  North  to  the  Demo¬ 
crats  of  the  South  as  before  the  war.  The  election  laws,  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  will  be  the  first  to  be  repealed,  and  thus  wilf  be  legalized  all  the  atro¬ 
cious  crimes  and  frauds  of  the  South,  and  even  the  great  fraud  of  New  York 
will  be  condoned  forever.  Amnesty  and  forgiveness  will  be  proclaimed  for 
the  meanest  crimes  that  have  ever  been  committed  against  free  government. 
What  protection  will  there  then  be  for  the  freedmen  of  the  South  ?  What  guard 
will  there  be  against  ballot-box  staffers  and  like  criminals  in  the  North  ? 

What  further  is  likely  to  happen  ?  The  Democratic  party  has  opposed  from 
the  beginning,  as  unconstitutional,  our  whole  system  of  National  banks,  and 
favored  a  system  of  State  banks  as  a  matter  of  constitutional  right.  By  the 
passage  of  a  law  of  two  lines  they  can  repeal  the  tax  of  ten  per  cent,  now 
levied  upon  the  notes  of  State  banks,  and  thus,  without  a  formal  repeal  of  the 
National-bank  system,  they  can  revive  the  whole  State-bank  system,  and 
flood  us  with  wild-cat  and  red-dog  money.  That  this  will  be  done  I  have  no 
earthly  doubt  whatever.  I  know  that  the  leading  Southern  Senators  and 
Members  are  especially  anxious  to  revive  the  system  of  State  banks,  with  a 
view  to  have  irredeemable  paper  money  again,  and  some  of  the  VvT estern  Con¬ 
gressmen  will  follow  in  the  same  direction.  All  this  will  lead  directly  to  the 
repeal  or  disuse  of  the  National-bank  system,  because  it  is  a  principle  of  finan¬ 
cial  law  that  the  poorer  currency  will  supersede  the  better,  and  in  a  short  time 
every  person  will  be  trying  to  shove  off  upon  his  neighbor  unsecured  notes  of 
State  banks  which  will  go  down  with  the  first  wave  of  financial  panic.  All 
war  legislation,  or  that  which  has  grown  out  of  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  Government,  will  be  gradually  swept  away,  the 
Army  and  Navy  will  be  opened  to  rebels,  and  the  men  whom  we  fought  against 
will  again  wield  the  military  and  naval  arm  of  the  Goverment.  Rebels,  still 
proud  of  their  achievements  in  the  rebellion,  bitter  in  their  hearts,  and  full 
of  rage  against  the  defenders  of  the  Union,  will  ride  rough-shod  in  their  new 
authority  over  men  who  have  sacrificed  their  all  in  defense  of  the  country. 
The  public  credit  cannot  long  escape  from  the  strange  and  unnatural  restora¬ 
tion,  and  the  business  interests  of  the  country,  so  intimatety  identified  with 
political  events,  will  feel  the  staggering  blow. 

Are  the  probable  results  of  a  Democratic  administration  too  strongly  stated? 
If  so,  it  is  only  because  it  may  be  deterred  by  public  opinion  from  going  to  the 
extreme  logic  of  their  position.  But  I  know  these  men  well,  and  I  believe  that 
the  result  of  the  full  ascendency  of  the  Democratic  party  will  be  to  shock  the 
public  credit ;  to  open  the  Treasury  wide  to  rebel  claims ;  to  wipe  out  all  that 
was  achieved  by  the  war;  to  turn  our  Government  back  from  its  National 
tendencies  to  what  it  was  in  fact  before  the  war — a  mere  confederacy  of  States 
— and  to  cripple  the  power  of  the  General  Government  in  the  enforcement  and 
execution  of  its  laws. 

Why  encounter  these  risks?  Is  there  anything  in  our  present  condition 
that  should  lead  the  people  of  the  North,  those  who  fought  for  the  Union,  who 


love  the  glories  won  by  our  heroes  of  the  war,  to  make  this  shameful  surren¬ 
der  to  our  foes1?  No,  my  countrymen.  The  change  proposed  is  repugnant  to 
our  manhood,  injurious  to  our  interests,  and  fatal  to  the  national  policy  that 
has  so  greatly  advanced  our  country  among  the  nations  of  the  world. 

The  Republican  party  may  sometimes  have  failed  to  meet  your  expecta¬ 
tions  in  all  things,  may  sometimes  have  neglected  to  do  that  which  ought  to 
have  been  done,  but,  on  the  whole,  it  has  rendered  such  service  to  this  country 
that  it  may  fairly  claim  to  be  intrusted  with  the  adminstration  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment  until  at  least  some  party  appears  with  better  principles  and  a  better 
record.  The  Republican  party  conducted  the  war  with  success.  It  has  emanci¬ 
pated  a  whole  race.  It  has  done  its  utmost  to  secure  civil  and  religious  liberty  to 
all  citizens.  It  has  developed  the  homestead  policy.  It  has  unified  and  nation¬ 
alized  all  parts  of  our  common  country  into  one  grand  whole,  without  in¬ 
vading  in  the  least  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  several  States,  which  during 
this  time  have  securely  managed  their  local  affairs  without  let  or  hindrance 
from  the  National  Government.  It  proposes  further  to  develop  this  policy. 
It  proposes  to  maintain  the  resumption  of  specie  payments,  so  that  we  may 
continue  to  have  good  money  of  gold  and  silver  and  paper,  all  equal  to  each 
other,  and  all  of  universal  credit  wherever  water  runs  and  our  flag  floats.  It 
proposes  to  complete  the  plan  of  refunding  the  debt  by  the  substitution  of 
bonds  bearing  from  three  to  four  per  cent,  interest  for  those  still  outstanding 
bearing  a  higher  rate.  It  proposes,  while  steadily  pursuing  the  principle  of 
protecting  American  industry,  to  reduce  as  rapidly  as  possible  the  burden  of 
taxation,  and  at  no  distant  time  to  confine  all  national  taxes  to  moderate 
duties  on  imported  goods  and  a  tax  on  liquors,  tobacco,  and  beer.  Regarding 
education  as  the  strongest  foundation  for  Republican  government,  it  proposes 
to  foster  schools  and  colleges  and  academies  of  learning,  and  to  make  the  way 
open  in  the  South  as  well  as  in  the  North  to  every  child,  black  or  white,  to 
receive  the  rudiments  of'education.  It  has  given  you,  as  an  evidence  of  its 
purposes,  an  honest,  faithful,  and  successful  administration  of  the  National 
Government  under  the  Presidency  of  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  one  that  will  be 
pointed  to  as  an  honored  example  long  after  we  are  gathered  to  our  fathers. 
He  has  not  had  the  support  of  Congress  during  his  term,  and  lias  been  crippled 
greatly  in  the  development  of  his^  policy ;  but  he  has  prevented  great  evils 
from  being  accomplished  by  the  Democratic  party.  More  than  all,  he  has 
wisely  executed  Republican  iaws  upon  the  statute-book,  and  has  by  his  veto 
prevented  the  repeal  of  other  laws  equally  important.  He  has  done  this  country 
no  evil,  but  has  done  it  great  good. 

We  want  a  change.  We  want  to  change  this  Democratic  Congress  into  a 
Republican  Congress,  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  with  the 
general  policy  of  the  Republican  party ;  a  Congress  Chat  will,  while  closely 
scrutinizing  the  public  expenses,  be  just  and  liberal  for  all  necessary  purposes, 
and  economical,  careful,  and  prudent  in  the  appropriation  of  public  money. 
We  want  to  uphold  the  national  authority,  so  that  the  time  will  soon  come 
when  neither  a  mob  nor  a  State,  nor  local  public  opinion,  will  be  strong  enough 
to  deprive  any  American  citizen  of  his  civil  and  political  rights.  We  want  to 
continue  activity  and  industry  and  good  times.  We  want  to  foster  our  indus¬ 
try,  extend  oitr  trade,  and  fill  our  vast  area  with  thriving,  industrious  people, 
native  and  naturalized.  While  maintaining  American  principles,  we  offer  the 
industrial  classes  of -all  nations  who  are  willing  to  share  in  our  lot  and  conform 
to  our  policy,  the  liberal  and  equal  benefit  of  our  laws.  We  wish  to  see  the 
rights  of  labor  protected  without  disturbing  the  rights  of  property.  W e  wish, 
above  all,  to  maintain  the  national  credit  and  the  national  name,  so  that,  both  in 
our  foreign  and  domestic  policy  it  may  be  understood  that  this  Republic  will 
be  just  to  the  weak  as  well  as  to  the  strong,  will  ask  nothing  but  what  is  right, 
and  submit  to  nothing  that  is  wrong  in  our  dealings  with  foreign  nations. 

To  secure  these  great  objects,  we  have  placed  in  nomination  General  Gar¬ 
field,  a  citizen  of  Ohio,  who  was  trained  in  the  school  of  adversity,  which  has 
produced  nearly  all  the  great  men  in  American  politics.  He  is  self-educated. 
He  has  been  tried  in  both  civil  and  military  life,  and  in  every  position  occu¬ 
pied  by  him  has  rendered  satisfation  to  his  constituents.  He  entered  the 
volunteer  army  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  as  a  soldier,  performed  brilliant 
services,  rose  rapidly,  until  he  was  called  by  the  people  of  his  district  to 
represent  them  in  Congress.  He  is  thoroughly  informed  and  trained  in  all  the 
questions  of  the  day,  and  in  all  of  them  is.  in  full  harmony  with  the  Republi¬ 
can  party.  He  is  admirably  prepared  to  discharge  the  civil  duties  of  the  high 
office  for  which  has  been  nominated,  and,  compared  to  General  Hancock,  by 
any  test  that  may  be  applied  to  him,  is  his  superior  in  ability,  capacity,  and 


t 

fitness  for  President  of  the  United  States.  General  Hancock  relies  solely 
*  upon  his  service  in  the  Army,  and  upon  the  issuing  of  an  order,  which, 
in  my  judgment,  under  the  circumstances,  was  a  concession  to  rebels 
that  ought  not  to  have  been  made,  while  General  Garfield  can  point  to  a  varied 
civil  and  military  life,  combining  the  heroism  of  the  soldier  and  trained  ex.' 
perience  in  the  highest  civil  duties.  Let  no  personal  disappointment  enter 
into  or  color  our  zeal  in  the  good  cause,  but  with  the  courage  and  hope  that 
animated  the  Union  Army  during  the  war,  let  us  press  forward  our  Kepublican 
principles  until  all  that  we  have  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  or  the  laws 
shall  be  fully  secured  to  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  loftiest  citizen  of  this 
liepublic. 

In  reply  to  a  question  by  one  of  the  audience  as  to  the  cause  of  the  re¬ 
moval  of  General  Arthur  as  Collector  of  Customs  at  New  York  Mr.  Sherman 
said:  “I  have  never  said  one  word  impugning  General  Arthur’s  honor  or  in¬ 
tegrity  as  a  man  and  a  gentleman ;  but  he  was  not  in  harmony  with  the  views 
of  the  Administration  in  the  management  of  the  custom  house.  While  I  would 
not,  perhaps,  have  recommended  his  nomination,  yet  I  would  vote  for  him  for 
Vice-President  a  million  times  before  I  would  vote  for  William  H.  English, 
with  whom  I  served  in  Congress.” 


i 


i 


